Don't Turn Back, Bush Urges U.s.

STATE OF THE UNION

President Defends War, Touts Better Economy

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Tuesday night laid out his agenda of unfinished business in reforming Social Security, fighting terrorism and getting the nation's economy back on a roll.

Bush addressed a joint session of Congress, with millions of Americans watching on television, in a State of the Union speech clearly aimed at persuading voters to give him four more years in the White House.

"We have not come all this way -- through tragedy, and trial and war -- only to falter and leave our work unfinished," Bush said. "We can go forward with confidence and resolve -- or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us. We can press on with economic growth, and reforms in education and Medicare -- or we can turn back to the old policies and old divisions."

Much of Bush's speech was dominated by foreign policy, which has been true of Bush's presidency since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But he also called for several domestic-policy initiatives -- job-training, making health coverage more affordable, drug testing for schools, and a temporary-worker program to ease immigration rules.

Some of the proposals, such as reforming Social Security, have been longtime goals that have gone nowhere and are unlikely to be enacted in an election year. And many of the president's proposals could face a tough time in a GOP-controlled Congress that is increasingly restless about mounting budget deficits and has not always marched in lockstep with the Republican in the White House.

Still, Bush pushed for new programs, even as he urged Congress to cap spending growth at 4 percent. And he again made his case that younger workers should be able to divert some of their payroll taxes into private accounts to "make the Social Security system a source of ownership for the American people."

Bush spoke just one day after the Iowa caucuses turned the Democratic presidential-nomination process upside down. Political scientists said the tradition-rich event was an important prelude for Bush to his re-election race this fall.

"The Democrats are beating the heck out of each other, and he gets to stand up and contrast himself," said Robert Watson, associate professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University.

Democrats used the speech to highlight their difference in priorities compared with Bush's agenda. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., took issue with Bush's tax-cut proposals, and spoke of the increase in joblessness and those without health insurance under Bush's watch.

"Instead of borrowing even more money to give more tax breaks to companies so that they can export even more jobs, we propose tax cuts and policies that will strengthen our manufacturing sector and create good jobs at good wages here at home," Daschle said.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, said he thinks Bush has kept the promises he made during the 2000 campaign, but needs to focus more on the growing budget deficit. "The long-term effort by the president has to include holding the line on spending," Stearns said. "And, frankly, I don't think he's done that well."

But, Stearns said, the president has kept his word to take unprecedented measures in the fight against terrorism.

Bush addressed head-on the national debate about his decision to go to war, the conflict that decision caused with United Nations allies and the dispute over whether Iraq posed as serious a threat as Bush claimed in last year's speech. The bottom line, Bush said, is the world is a safer place with Saddam Hussein behind bars.

"Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day. Had we failed to act, Security Council resolutions on Iraq would have been revealed as empty threats, weakening the United Nations and encouraging defiance by dictators around the world," Bush said. "Iraq's torture chambers would still be filled with victims -- terrified and innocent."

Bush warned the public not to get complacent about security. "It is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting -- and false."

Commerce Secretary Don Evans and four members of the House and Senate stayed away from the speech so that, in the event of a catastrophe such as a terrorist attack on the Capitol, someone would be left to run the government.

To deal with the threat of terrorism, Bush called for an extension of the Patriot Act, a controversial tool for the Justice Department that some think has stepped on civil liberties.

Bush said his tough stand against supporters of terrorism has helped show other countries America's resolve. He noted the arrest of al-Qaeda terrorists and leaders of Saddam's regime, as well as progress in building a democracy in Iraq. Adnan Pachachi, president of the Iraqi Governing Council, attended the speech and received a standing ovation.